The Two Things St. Louis Left Me With

One was the weather.

The other was its people.

Summers regularly climbed past 40°C, wrapped in thick Midwestern humidity that made breathing feel like work.

Spring brought tornado sirens so often they almost became background noise.

When the alarms sounded, everyone headed for the basement.

Cars on rooftops.

Baseball-sized hail.

It was simply part of life.

The other thing I remember is the people.

During the years I worked there, I met an extraordinary number of people who were genuinely kind, humble, and uncomplicated.

I've lived and worked in many places since then, but nowhere else has that kind of sincerity felt quite so common.

Today I received an email celebrating the 25th anniversary of Give Kids A Smile, and immediately thought of someone I haven't seen in years:

Dr. Jeff Dalin.

More than a decade ago, while working at Sigma-Aldrich, I was preparing my dental school applications in my spare time.

On weekends, I volunteered with Give Kids A Smile, providing free dental screenings and cleanings for children from low-income families.

Back then, the organization was remarkably small.

It was essentially Jeff—and a handful of volunteers like us.

Working together weekend after weekend, we gradually became friends despite the difference in our ages.

Later, after moving back to the West Coast, I spent some time helping raise funds, hoping to bring the program there.

But healthcare systems and community needs differed so much between regions that the effort never truly took off.

Time passed.

Today, seeing Give Kids A Smile celebrate its 25th anniversary, I also noticed that Jeff received the American Dental Association Humanitarian Award a few years ago.

I couldn't help smiling.

It's easy to overlook work that seems ordinary.

It's much harder to devote decades to doing that ordinary work exceptionally well.

I'm genuinely happy for all of them.